


Green Eyed Warrior (working title)

by Artistry_Avenue



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Confusion, Consensual Possession, F/F, F/M, Gen, Ghosts, Heavy Angst, How Do I Tag, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Minor Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos, Multi, Oblivious Jaune Arc, Original Character(s), Pain, Parent Qrow Branwen, Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, Possession, Protective Qrow Branwen, Pyrrha Nikos Lives, Qrow Branwen is Ruby Rose's Parent, Swearing, Trans Jaune Arc, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:22:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23915989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artistry_Avenue/pseuds/Artistry_Avenue
Summary: It was unfortunate circumstances that changed everything: or rather, unfortunate timing of two kind souls aiding each other in the wrong ways.-"And then a second scream rang out, followed by only white."-In an AU where Ruby goes up to fight Cinder instead of Pyrrha, lots of things change, yet many things are also the same.Pyrrha lives, but at what cost? Was it really worth it to live if the one that died in her place was a sweet girl with so much potential?But, most importantly;What now?
Relationships: Blake Belladonna & Ruby Rose & Weiss Schnee & Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Jaune Arc & Lie Ren & Nora Valkyrie, Jaune Arc & Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune Arc & Pyrrha Nikos & Lie Ren & Nora Valkyrie, Jaune Arc & Weiss Schnee, Jaune Arc/Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos & Penny Polendina, Pyrrha Nikos & Ruby Rose, Pyrrha Nikos & Weiss Schnee, Pyrrha Nikos & Yang Xiao Long, Pyrrha Nikos/Ruby Rose, Qrow Branwen & Oscar Pine, Qrow Branwen & Ruby Rose, Qrow Branwen & Team RWBY, Qrow Branwen & Yang Xiao Long, Qrow Branwen/Summer Rose, Team JNPR & Team RWBY
Comments: 10
Kudos: 35





	1. I'll pull the trigger with my eyes closed

It was unfortunate circumstances that changed everything: or rather, unfortunate timing of two kind souls aiding each other in the wrong ways.

  


Pyrrha had insisted on joining ruby when she went to take down Torchwick, and ruby had agreed after Pyrrha refused to relent. It was much easier to take down the ship with the red heads semblance. Pyrrha had gotten lucky and managed to graze the metal handle of the umbrella that Neo was using, and was able to flick the button to open the weapon and send her flying.

  


Her partner met his fate with a grimm coming up behind him when he was pushed back just far enough to give them space.

  


This was the first change that would lead to many many more.

__________

  


"Ruby, we have to find the others now! If we can all regroup we can better protect people."

  


Ruby rose opened her mouth to reply, about to say where they should look for other students first, when a sharp sense of foreboding hit her, followed by a terrifying rumble that shook the ground.

  


Pyrrha turned around at her sudden silence before stumbling lightly when the ground shook beneath her feet. "Wha-" she cut herself off, mouth agape at the sight of the mountain breaking open.

  


A winged beast emerged with a soul piercing wail, one that sent Pyrrha back a step in fear and Ruby to her knees when she felt like she was choking on air. She felt like her eyes were burning and her lungs were caving in, all too many thoughts and emotions and  _ faces why were there so many faces- _

  


"-uby can you hear me? Ruby!"

  


A sharp gasp had the silver eyed girl doubling over and leaning into Pyrrha, the horrible haze clearing away enough for them to look up at the monstrosity now circling the school.

  


She brought herself to her feet, still using Pyrrha as support with her legs trembling. "We need to go to the school and get everyone out of there! We-we have to get them away from that  _ thing!" _

  


Pyrrha brought Ruby closer, trying to keep her from collapsing again. She didn't know what had made Ruby fall into pieces and break down so suddenly, but she'd do anything to keep it from happening to her friend again.

  


"Do you have enough energy for your semblance? I can lend you aura-"

  


"No, no, I have enough energy, I've never used my semblance with someone else before. Do you…" Ruby looked up to lock eyes with Pyrrha, "do you trust me?"

  


A firm nod from Pyrrha was all she needed, but the next few words pulled at Ruby's heart.

  


"With my life."

  


_ So had penny- _

  


'None of that right now!' Ruby gripped Pyrrha's forearm a little tighter for a second before backing up a few feet.

  


"Let's hope this works!"

__________________

  


In a blur they were at the school, a few yards away from a gathering of students with their weapons at the ready.

  


Pyrrha stopped fairly easily for her first time traveling like that, albeit stumbling for a few feet.

  


Ruby however went sliding past Pyrrha, her aura near shattered. The green eyed student ran to her, pulling her close with a shaken expression. "Ruby, talk to me, how's your aura? Are you alright? Yo-you should sit this fight out."

  


Ruby tried to push herself up, which Pyrrha had to help her do, by slinging one of the short girls arms around her shoulders. She tried to speak, hacking a few times into a balled up fist before she spoke.

  


"I have to help Pyrrha, I have to ke-" a few short coughs, "-keep them safe!" Her voice was frail still, but gaining strength as what remained of her aura worked to heal her.

  


Pyrrha looked up to see if there were any of her teammates she could have take Ruby to safety. She felt her heart drop when she saw Ozpin standing at the doorway into the school.

  


She moved to stand up, walking a bit towards Juane. He was her best bet to keep Ruby out of the fray, and it would protect him as well. "Ruby, I'm gonna have Juane take you somewhere safe, I have to go with Ozpi-"

  


Ruby's silver eyes shot open from their dazed look into an expression of horror.

  


" _ NO! _ "

  


Pyrrha nearly dropped her out of shock.

  


"Pyrrha please don't leave, I'm so scared of losing you too!" Ruby pleaded, clinging to Pyrrha like a lifeline. A small line of tears fell down her cheek, and the green eyed girl could feel her heart break a bit.

  


"Alright, I'll take you with me, but if anything happens then you need to promise me to run to safety,  _ please." _ The 'I can't be responsible for another death' died on her lips before it could have possibly been said.

  


Still holding onto each other, they made their way to Ozpin, who had a look neither could quite decipher. He lead them into the school and into the elevator, the girls still holding each other, though less now for physical support and more for the grounding and calming they brought to each other.

  


By the time the elevator had reached the bottom (or at the very least their destination) Ruby had largely gotten her strength and energy back, and her aura was slowly recovering as well.

  


Pyrrha pulled the silver eyed girl into a run alongside Ozpin, though the urgency of the situation didn't stop Ruby's thoughts and wondering questions. "Pyrrha," she began between breaths, "where are we?"

  


"A type of vault."

  


"Why do you know about this? Why would a school need a vault," Ruby slowed when she saw a machine at the end, which Pyrrha and Ozpin ran to, "like… this?"

  


Pyrrha stopped and turned to her, "Ruby-"

  


"Pyrrha, get to the pods," Ozpin directed, shifting attention to Ruby after receiving a nod from the green eyed student. "Miss Rose, if you'd like to help, you can stand guard."

  


Ruby turned to the elevator, pulling out Cresent Rose and lining up her sniper to shoot down any enemy that may enter.

  


"What do we do now?" Pyrrha mused, her hands gripping at her own gloves in an anxious fashion.

" _ We _ , Miss Nikos, do nothing." As the pod opened, Ozpin stepped out of the way. " _ You, _ however, have a choice to make."

  


Tears welled up in Pyrrha's eyes, a fear that was stuck deep in her soul,  _ 'what if i fail?' _

  


She stepped into the pod, shoving away the thoughts that rumbled like a devastating storm. Wiping away a stray tear, the pod closed around her, and her heart clenched in anticipation.

  


A rumbling sounded, and Ruby chanced a glance back at Ozpin and Pyrrha, a crease forming between her brows. 

  


"Are you ready?" Ozpin inquired, hesitating when he saw Pyrrha nod. "I… I need to hear you say it."

  


Pyrrha took in a shuddering breath, steeling herself and looking towards Ruby. Their eyes met for a moment before Pyrrha looked up a bit, not trained on any one thing, " _ yes. _ "

  


Ozpin turned back to the controls, a shadowy look behind his glasses, "thank you, Miss Nikos."

  


The other pod rose to join her, and a humming in the machines engine roared to life. Just out of Pyrrha's sight, a glowing emerged from the pod with the maiden, and the power slowly started transferring to hers. There was a moment of still silence, with out any thoughts or feelings, before an excruciating intensity overcame her, bringing a wail of pain from her lips. She brought her arms up as if she could block the pain with such a simple gesture.

  


Ruby rounded around with a shout. "Pyrrha!"

She surged forward, reaching out to place a hand on the pod but hesitated. Ozpin turned his head, likely in shame.

  


"I'm so sorry," he muttered, squeezing his eyes shut. Ruby felt a tug in her heart. She felt so afraid, afraid that something would happen to Pyrrha, afraid that-

  


An arrow shot into the maidens pod, stabbing through the heart.

  


Ruby turned, her heart catching in her throat when she saw Cinder. 

  


She was the one who killed penny.

She was the one who had hurt so many lives.

She was the  _ villian _ .

  


The maiden took in a final shuddering breath before her heart stopped. The lights seemed to go with her life, the room going dark except for the glowing of the maidens power.

  


The pain lessened for Pyrrha, and she opened her eyes to see Cinder. Fear gripped her when Ruby held her scythe at the ready. She started hitting the glass of the pod, screaming out for ruby to stop when she ran forward to try and lay a strike on the woman who now held an entire maidens power. Ozpin's shout to stay back didn't stop her, but Cinder simply flung her back towards the pods as if she was nothing.

  


" _ Ruby!" _

  


The door of the pod flung itself at Cinder when Pyrrha used her semblance, dragging herself out so fast she nearly collapsed. She pulled her weapons towards her and went to charge at Cinder when Ozpin stopped her with his arm. "Take Ruby and get out of here! Find Glynda, Ironwood, Qrow, send them here! The tower cannot fall!"

  


Pyrrha hesitated, wanting to push forward and  _ fight _ . "But… I can help!" Ozpin looked back at her, "You'll only get in the way."

  


Pyrrha swallowed the lump in her throat, running to help Ruby to her feet. They made a run for the elevator, thankful that Cinder had merely glanced at them instead of stopping them. That didn't stop their worry for their professor.

  


\-------

  


In the elevator on the way back up, Ruby reached out to grasp Pyrrha's hand. She gave it a squeeze with a look of concern joining it. Pyrrha seemed… out if it after the whole situation. "Pyrrha, are you okay?"

  


The green eyed girl took in a trembling breath, blinking away a few forming tears. "I don't know yet. I don't know what's going to happen, Ruby, I'm so  _ scared. _ I've  _ never _ been this scared before! I've always felt like I had to be strong, that I wasn't allowed to be afraid because there were people looking up to me, expecting  _ so much _ . I feel like-"

  


She was cut off by a hand on her cheek, and she looked away from her hands to Ruby's face, finding a sympathetic look through her tear-blurred vision. "Like we're just kids?"

  


Pyrrha nodded lightly, dropping her eyes back to her hands, which were being cradled by the hand that wasn't resting on her face. "Me too. I'm more scared now than I've ever been, and I don't know what to do, but being scared doesn't mean you aren't strong. Fear makes us stronger, because we can learn from it, and learn how to get better from it."

  


Pyrrha smiled at Ruby, her heart catching in her throat when she saw the girl smiling back with such genuine earnest. "Thank you, Ruby. You were always such a good leader, and even if I'm not on your team, I'm so happy that I got to meet you."

  


Ruby huffed a small bit of laughter, "you're saying that like we aren't gonna have plenty of more awesome moments! They'll probably shut the school down, at least for a while, but we can still keep in touch, right?"

  


Pyrrha nodded, feeling more confident now, and even a little safer, "of course! Maybe after all this is over, we can all meet up together, meet everyone's families."

  


Ruby looked like she was going to say more when the elevator door opened to the chaos outside.

  


\--------

  


Jaune vaguely heard the words "mandatory evacuation" and rushed up to the group of students he had seen. "Guys! Is everyone okay?" He ran up to Weiss, huffing to catch his breath.

  


Wiess whirled around, hoping her final missing teammate would be with him. "Juane, have you seen Ruby? I don't know where she is and-" she felt her throat close up, motioning vaguely behind her where Blake and Yang lay on the ground, Ren and Nora close by. Blake had a noticeable wound that had been hastily tended to, just as the stub where yangs arm had previously been had also received.

  


Blake held onto Yang's remaining hand, whimpering apologies to her. Juane covered his mouth, feeling sick at the sight of his  _ friends _ hurt like this.

  


"Hey-" Juane looked up, seeing a faunus that Blake and the others of team RWBY had hung out with, "-they're gonna be okay. The soldiers have a ship ready to take you to Vale-"

  


"But Pyrrha and Ruby are still missing!" Nora tried to sit up, gasping sharply in pain and clutching her side.

  


"What? I thought-"

  


" _ Look guys, _ that giant grimm keeps circling the school. Even the White Fang are afraid of it! We have to go  _ now. _ "

  


Ren sat up a little straighter, leaning heavily on his arms, "we aren't leaving without our teammates-" a groan of pain made him cut himself off.

  


A moment of silence pierced the tension in the air. They all looked to each other, no one knowing what to do. Juane breathed in heavily before looking at everyone, "I'll go find them and bring them here. I need to make sure they're okay."

  


Weiss stepped forward, "no,  _ we _ will find them." She turned to Ren, Nora, and Sun, "watch after Blake and Yang until we get back. I'm not letting mine or your teammates die out there."

  


Weiss and Juane turned and ran back towards the school, barely hearing the "you better be!" from Sun.

  


\-------

  


Pyrrha and Ruby hurried out of the school, stopping a few meters away from the doors they just left. Ruby searched for her scroll, "okay, I think I have Glynda's number, and I can call Qrow here if I could just  _ find my scroll _ -"

  


Pyrrha pulled out hers and handed it to Ruby. "You can use mine, I have Glynda's in there. Hopefully your uncle can bring Ironwood here, too." Ruby nodded, trying to find Glynda's contact number.

  


She stopped, turning to her friend. "Pyrrha," she started, "what was all of that? What was that machine-"

  


They were cut off by a rumbling, followed by a bright light traveling up through the elevator. Pyrrha's eyes widened, "but, Ozpin-" she shook her head. "There's no time," she cautioned, turning to Ruby, "you have to go and join the others, send help."

  


Ruby turned to face her with a stubborn look, "and what are you going to do?" Her look dropped into horror when she saw Pyrrha look up at where Cinder had flown, "no,  _ no!  _ Pyrrha you are  _ not going to-" _

  


Pyrrha turned to her, cradling her face and pressing a kiss to Ruby's lips. It was a spur of the moment decision, something she knew she would regret, but she had to do something to distract Ruby long enough for her to leave. She pulled away, murmuring "I'm sorry" against her lips before moving to push her-

  


And then her back was hitting the metal of the locker, which soon slammed shut. Ruby had tears streaming down her face as she punched in coordinates to take her to the others. "Ruby?! Ruby,  _ please don't do this!"  _ She laid her hands against the locker, ready to use her semblance to break out and keep Ruby from-

  


"I won't let another friend die. I don't think I could live with myself if I lost you and penny to the same person and did  _ nothing _ . Im so  _ sorry, Pyrrha." _ Her voice choked up at the end as she stepped away, trying to block out the banging that came from Pyrrha trying to free herself. " _ RUBY!" _

  


The locker took off, leaving Ruby alone as she checked her scythe. She smiled joylessly, realising she just saved the life of her friend, even if it meant she might lose her own.

  


She turned and ran inside, propelling herself forward and then upwards with her semblance.

  


\--------

  


The locker Pyrrha was stuck in landed a few meters ahead of where Weiss and Juane were running to, causing them to back pedal a few steps. Juane shouted out "Pyrrha!" As he ran forward, helping a stumbling Pyrrha out of the locker. She met his eyes, her breathing heavy and her voice desperate. "Ruby! We have to stop her she-" she choked on a cough, tears streaming down hers cheeks, "-she went to fight the woman at the top of the tower! We have to  _ stop her!" _

  


Weiss grabbed Pyrrha's arms, trying to stabilize her, "Pyrrha, are you  _ okay?" _ Pyrrha shook her head, holding onto Weiss, "that doesn't matter! We have to save her!"

  


Juane looked up the side of the tower, "Weiss, if you use your glyphs, you should be able to get Pyrrha up the side of the wall. I'll stay down here and provide backup from any grimm."

  


Weiss nodded, turning to Pyrrha for confirmation. The red head stood up straight, backing up to get a running head start, "I'm ready when you are, Weiss."

  


Weiss drew her weapon back before swiping up to make a line of glyphs show up on the wall. Pyrrha turned to Juane, "you need to go get help. See if you can find Qrow, or Glynda, or Ironwood."

  


\----------

  


As Ruby shot upwards, she heard the screech of the wyvern grimm, and she could only think ' _ kill it, destroy it, get  _ rid  _ of it.' _ It felt odd, sudden, and out of place, but it only fueled her anger and conviction to take down Cinder.

  


The elevator doors burst open and she fired a shot at Cinder, who simply moved her head to the side. Ruby herself soon followed, trying to kick her but only being pushed back when her feet collided with Cinder's arms.

  


A grin crossed the maidens face as she shot fire towards Ruby in a rapid fire way. Ruby used her semblance to dodge each shot before launching towards her again with her scythe. Cinder grabbed it, yanking her forward before pushing her back to smack against the wall. Ruby wailed in pain as she stumbled away from the wall and to her knees, her scythe a small distance away.

  


She slowly made to stand up before being thrown back again, crying out when her arm hit the wall wrong with a  _ crack _ .

  


She gasped in pain, cradling her elbow and squeezing her eyes shut to try and keep the tears away. As Cinder approached her, she darts out of the way, trying to reach her scythe.

  


A wall of flame came up between her and the scythe, burning her and wearing down her aura even further when she burrowed through it. Sliding across the floor, she curled in on herself, sobbing in agony as what little remained of her aura tried to heal the burning feeling on her skin. She weakly patted out the flames attached to her cape, wobbling even as she sat on her knees. 

  


"So pathetic, and  _ really _ unfortunate. You have no idea what you're really fighting in. Oz should have known better than to send children to fight  _ his  _ war." Cinder stepped in front of Ruby, putting out the last of the smoldering on her cape with her heel. "Its almost as unfortunate as his choice for the maiden. She would have never been able to wield it properly.  _ But, _ rest assured that I  _ will _ ." She tilted Ruby's head up with her finger. 

  


Ruby narrowed her eyes, her body shaking in rage just as much as it was in pain. "You  _ killed penny,"  _ she spat, baring her teeth as if it would make her more intimidating.

  


Cinder huffed, "it was never in my plan to kill her, only take her out of the equation. Her death was entirely that Nikos girl's fault." She stepped away, walking towards the window and leaving her back open.

  


Ruby lurches at her scythe, grabbing it and rolling to shoot at Cinder while she had the chance.

  


The bullet missed in her haze to act quickly, and Cinder turned on her heel with a sour expression. "You just don't learn, do you  _ little girl?" _

  


Cinder summoned a bow and pointed it towards Ruby, grinning wickedly. "I'll just have to teach you a  _ different _ way."

  


Ruby rolled out of the way of the arrow, shambling to her feet before an arrow hit her, breaking the last of her aura and piercing her leg.

  


Her leg gave out, the arrow breaking inside and causing her to whimper as she collapsed to the ground. She clutched her leg as close to her as possible, sobbing out for any number of reasons. She was in pain, emotionally and physically.

  


She pushed herself up, choking on her sobs and heaving for air as the quiet  _ clinking _ of Cinder's heels approached. She looked up at Cinder, a horrible feeling wallowing in her gut.  _ 'What is this? Why do I feel so horrible?' _

  


"You should have fled with that other girl, but at the very least, you can join your dear Penny." A villainous smile crept across her face, mixed with a disgustingly false motherly tone.

_ 'Oh… it's misery.' _

  


Ruby took in a shuddering breath, willing herself to meet Cinder's eyes.

  


"Do you believe in karma?"

  


Cinder narrowed her eyes,

Stepped back,

And drew her bow.

  


_ "Not anymore." _

  


She let go of the bow string.

  


\---------

  


Pyrrha rushed up the side of the building barely latching onto the side and and pulling herself up without falling back down from a very unfortunate height.

  


She looked up after she got herself situated, Ruby's name dying on her lips when she heard a choked cry.

  


There was Ruby,

  


With an  _ arrow _ going through her.

  


Her weapons slipped from her grasp, clattering to the floor and drawing the attention of Cinder, who glanced at her. "Chin up, little one, we have an audience. Too bad they were late to the show," she crooned, tipping Ruby's bloodied, bruised, and tear stained face towards Pyrrha.

  


Pyrrha felt everything go numb for a second. Someone was screaming but she couldn't see anyone's lips move.

  


Cinder glowered at her and grabbed Ruby, setting her body to slowly dissipate into embers as she walked towards the red haired girl who was now on her knees screaming her lungs raw.

  


Cinder drew her bow to take a second final shot, rolling her eyes when Pyrrha couldn't even tear her eyes away from Ruby's slowly disappearing body. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to deal with too many bodies, but I guess I'll have to settle for three."

  


She pulled her arm back to shoot at Pyrrha.

  


And then a second scream rang out, followed by only white. 


	2. Hoping to hit you somewhere vital

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> everyone mourns, but actions must still be taken

With a shudder, Pyrrha pried her eyes open and glanced around the room. It… wasn't her room.

She started to sit up, her bones and body aching and protesting with each movement. Where was she? With a deep breath, she set one foot on the ground, then the other, and pushed herself out of bed, only to crumble to the floor when her legs decided they were still asleep.

She hit the floor rather hard, sounding out a loud  _ thump _ through the house. Footsteps were soon heard coming up the stairs, followed by the door opening.

"Oh, hey, you're awake. C'mon, let's get you off the floor," a voice spoke, helping her to her feet enough to get her back to the bed. She looked up, being greeted by blonde hair similar to Yang's. "You were out for a while there. You've got some family downstairs in the living room once you're better rested. I'm Taiyang, Yang and R-" he cut himself off, and Pyrrha felt a horrible yank at her heart, "Yang and Ruby's dad."

Pyrrha looked at her lap, noticing her clothes were different. Had someone…?

"Oh, your mom changed you out of your huntress clothes. Your armour is in Ruby's closet for now," he explained, shrugging and approaching a desk that had a tray of food. How long had she been out? "Um, Mr. Xaoi Long…?"

The man turned to her with a 'hm', offering a smile, "how long was I out? Where am I?" He brought the tray over, setting it on the bedside table. She could see some kind of soup (her throat was sore) and a few cut up fruits, along with a glass of water. "You've been out for about a day and a half? Qrow brought you to patch with Yang when he found you on top of the Beacon tower."

Pyrrha looked around the room she was in, trying to figure out who's room she was in. It clearly wasn't a guest room, too lived in to be one.

Her heart caught in her throat when she spotted a familiar red weapon up on the wall, along with the achingly familiar red cape. 

" _ Ruby _ ," she choked out.

She grabbed at the sheets, tears welling up in her eyes far faster than she could try and shove down her mourning and  _ pain _ . "I failed her, I could protect her when she was _ right there-" _

She felt a hand on her shoulder, "don't beat yourself up about it, kiddo. No one could have known that she would die, and it hurts that we lost her, but she died protecting people. She died doing what she wanted to do more than anything, and you were right there with her, from what I've heard."

Pyrrha wiped the tears away from her eyes, smiling bitterly. "Yeah, she saved so many lives… she saved mine…"

\-------

Taiyang soon left, leaving Pyrrha to eat her food and get changed into some different clothes. On the dresser, there was an outfit with a note on top laid out.

_ 'I had some clothes I didn't wear much, and I found some of Ruby's stuff too. Hope they fit. -Yang' _

She handled the note carefully, setting it aside and looking at the clothes laid out. A loose off white shirt that hung off her shoulders (likely Yangs since it was still a bit big and baggy on her) and a pair of dark red and brown shorts (probably Ruby's).

After slipping them on, she sat at a vanity. It wasn't much, there was a much bigger desk with books and such on it. It was probably because Ruby never really used anything like a vanity much other than for the mirror- if that. She had never seen Ruby wearing makeup or even really express interest in it, and her hairstyle had always screamed 'no time, gotta rush'.

Pyrrha smiled, seeing a picture tapped to the mirror. It was from her first day on team RWBY, though JNPR was also in the picture. Written in the corner were the words 'hi dad and uncle qrow! I got my team! We're gonna be way cooler than your team was!'

She took the picture off the mirror, grazing her thumb across the faces as if they'd disappear if she handled it even a little too rough.

Her eyes fell to her lap, which her hair quickly pooled around. Right, she was getting ready to head downstairs.

Looking back into the mirror, she pulled her hair back out of her face but faltered when she looked at herself in the mirror-  _ really _ looked at herself.

'Silver?'

\----------

In the end, after sitting at the vanity and staring at herself, she finally decided to just put her hair in a low ponytail and stop there. She stood up, set the picture back, and started to make her way to the door. She halted in her footsteps when she reached the door.

Turning to the cape, she squeezed her eyes shut.

Everything was quiet, except for the unintelligible talking downstairs.

"Im sorry, Ruby. I wish I could have done more, I wish I could have saved you…"

Her vision flooded white and a ringing pierced her ears, sending her stumbling back and clutching her head. Her hands latched onto the vanity and she sunk into the chair.

For a few moments, everything was blank.

When everything came back, she was standing in a different place, she was holding onto the cape and staring at herself in the mirror.

Her eyes were green.

\--------

Whatever talk was happening had been cut short when Pyrrha made her way downstairs. She stopped at the bottom, meeting eyes with her mother. She rushed towards her, being pulled into a tight hug. She looked over her mother's shoulder, seeing the rest of team JNPR, Yang, Qrow, and Taiyang all sitting around in the livingroom.

After separating from her mother she looked at her teammates and opened her arms, nearly being tackled by Nora rushing at full speed, followed by Jaune and Ren hugging her at her sides.

Her eyes looked over to Yang, trying to beckon her forward into the hug. Even if she wasn't part of her team, she was still a close friend. Her eyes didn't miss the missing limb.

After everyone separated, she turned her sole intention to Yang. "Where are the others…?"

Yang's expression turned a mix of bitter and mournful. "Weiss was picked up by her father and taken back to Atlas, and Blake… she ran and the only thing she left was this note." She pulled a note out of her pocket and handed it over to Pyrrha.

Pyrrha opened the note, looking over the hurried, panicked handwriting.

_ 'Yang, _

_ I'm sorry for running. I saw Adam, and I got so scared. I'm going to the one place where I hope he won't follow me, and I'm hoping that he'll leave you alone because of it. I'm heading back home to warn everyone about the White Fang. _

_ Only yours, blake.' _

Pyrrha looked up at Yang, reaching out to set a hand on her shoulder, "Yang…"

"She left us! She just left!" Yang was shaking in anger, cradling the nub where her arm used to be, "I get  _ why  _ she left, but it still hurts. I just wish she left more than a note. A way to contact her, a clue to where she's going,  _ something! _ "

Yang was pulled into a tight hug by Pyrrha, holding tightly onto her. Yang raised her arm to hug back, letting her head fall to rest in the crook of Pyrrha's neck. 

They were all in pain, Yang especially. She's lost so much family now; her birth mother, he adoptive mother, and now her little sister. Add blake and a missing arm, and you have someone who's struggling to even mourn anymore.

\----------

The Nikos family ended up staying for another week before they decided it was time to leave for home, but Pyrrha couldn't stop the tugging at her aura, her semblance, her  _ soul _ . She kept coming back to sit in front of Ruby's cape and scythe, and then everything would go white.

She would always come to with the scythe in her hands, feeling so foreign yet familiar in such a conflicting way.

Yang walked in on her one day, seeing Pyrrha holding the scythe in its compact form to her chest with her eyes glued to the cape.

"You should keep them," Yang had started, looking exhausted and worn down. Pyrrha met her eyes and Yang flinched back, hiding her shaking hand. "She would want you to have something of hers." 

She started wearing the cape. It provided a small comfort.

\--------

"-you don't understand! I swear I've seen Pyrrha with silver eyes! I know I have!"

She didn't mean to eavesdrop, truly. She was at the top of the stairs when she heard the frustrated voice of Yang. She sat down, pressing herself just out of sight.

"Listen kid, I believe you, but for all we know it could be a side effect of seeing that bright light from beacon tow-"

" _ Bullshit!  _ You said that you're going out to look for ozpin, right? Because he can be reincarnated! What if this is the same thing? What if Ruby is still out there? She  _ has to be!" _

Pyrrha didn't stick around long.

\--------

She was staring at herself in the mirror, noticing the shift in her eyes. At certain angles, they  _ did  _ look silver. Maybe-

A knock startled her from her thoughts, drawing her attention to the door, "come in."

Qrow opened the door, carrying a plate of food -ah, she had forgotten about dinner.

"Hey, kiddo. I brought up your food for ya, Tai made pizza." Pyrrha stood up from the seat in front of the vanity, gently taking the plate. "I  _ also  _ wanted to talk to you, about your eyes."

She took in a shaky breath, setting down the plate. "What is there to know? You said it yourself, it could just be a defect from Beacon tower."

Qrow sat down on the bed with a huff, keeping a distance between him and Pyrrha, who was sitting at the vanity again. She pulled the cape a little closer.

"That would be fine, if it weren't for the fact that they're silver. You already know about the maidens, but there's more magic in the world than just that. Have you or your family ever been religious?"

Pyrrha shook her head, "not really, though I do have a cousin who studies an ancient religion about two gods."

Qrow nodded along, "do you know anything about them?"

"They said that the gods were apparently family, I think they said brothers? It also could have been sisters, the translation was shaky. There was one of light and one of darkness, and it was implied that they had feuds, but no one knows if it's true or not."

Pyrrha looked at her lap and then up again, gears turning in her head. "Why are you asking about this? Are the two gods real?"

"They are. The gods were brothers, the older God of Light and creation, and the younger God of darkness and destruction. They had many feuds, the grimm were created by the younger, and together they made humanity. The older one, however, made his own special kind of humanity. He made the silver eyed warriors.

When the grimm started getting out of hand, they were there to push back and keep everything balanced between the two gods. They could erase, freeze, or weaken grimm with their eyes, usually in a brilliant white light.

Ruby's mom was one of these warriors, and a very talented one at that. She inherited Summers best traits, and some of my okay traits. Probably the only bit of good luck I ever had."

_ Oh. _

Pyrrha looked up, "I thought Ruby was Taiyang's daughter." She felt a harsh tug at her heart, a cry of confusion and even denial. 

"Biologically no, but he was still her father. He raised her, after all. We -me, tai, and summer- decided it would be safer for Ruby to believe Tai was her dad. Me and Raven were both already on Salem's watch list, so for people to know that Summer and I were her parents would have put her in a lot of danger." He ran his hands through his hair, looking exhausted.

"Who's salem?"

Qrow looked up, meeting Pyrrha's eyes, "she's the person who lead the attack on Beacon, who controls the grimm, and who probably ordered Cinder to take down Ruby. She always had an agenda against silver eyed people."

Pyrrha pulled the cape closer, her mind lost in a sea of screaming thoughts and feelings. Everything felt so suffocating and conflicting.

"So, what will you do now?" Pyrrha looked up with a questioning gaze.

"Salem's likely going after Haven next, trying to find the spring maiden and get the relic of knowledge. What are you going to do with this information?"

\------------

The night before the Nikos were supposed to leave, Pyrrha stepped outside, Ruby's scythe attached to her back, her cape pulled into place, and her own armour and weapons settled where they normally were. She looked between her team, the rest of JNPR, and nodded, "alright, is everyone ready?"

A couple of nods, and she started walking, determined to reach mistrial to warn of the coming fight.

\-------

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is an au I've been cooking up in my head for a while now! The main inspiration was Ozpin in general and the song "Sex with a ghost" by teddy hyde! Feel free to comment any criticism or ideas! [Or even some theories for what's gonna happen next ;)]
> 
> Hope you enjoy and keep reading! Pyrrha will indeed be getting a new look, which I will publish once its done!


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